Blueberries

I missed strawberry season. I had planned to freeze and preserve a LOT of strawberries this year, but by the time I got out to the pick-your-own farm, there were very few strawberries left. I vowed NOT to let that happen with blueberries. I've been diligent about getting out and now have about 20 lbs of frozen blueberries.

Blueberries are the perfect edible landscaping plant. They combine delicious fruit and ornamental beauty and are happy in pots or in the ground. They are easy to grow, require little care, and have few pest issues. Blueberry varieties are distinguished by their climate suitability and ripening season. I have six varieties of blueberries in my yard. The best producing plants are from two varieties, Elizabeth and Duke, that have been grown in the local area. The other varieties include natives from Pennsylvania and Michigan as well as a few common commercial varieties. The plants produce at different times and the berries differ in size, shape, and taste. For good production, you should have at least two plants from each family.

Blueberries like acidic soil and don't like wet feet, so if you are thinking about growing them, get a soil test done to check the acidity and make sure that planting site has good drainage. To learn more about blueberry cultivation, visit the blueberry section of Penn State Cooperative Extension's Mid-Atlantic Berry Guide at http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/AGRS097h.pdf.

A Story of Migrants

I've been nurturing a small stand of milkweeds plants for several years ... starting with one lone plant...there are now 10 plants. Why am I encouraging what's commonly known as a "weed" plant? Because monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed plants and the caterpillars (larvae) of monarch butterflies eat ONLY milkweed. Unfortunately, milkweed habitat is disappearing and monarch populations are in decline. One of the easiest ways to help the monarchs is to NOT destroy milkweed plants that are already established and to plant new stands to increase habitat.

The monarch lifecyle comprises the egg, larva, pupa or chrysalis, and butterfly. The lifecycle images below are from Monarch Watch, one of the longest existing educational outreach programs in the United States.

There are two populations of monarchs in the North America, those that breed in the East and those that breed in the West. Each fall millions of these butterflies leave their breeding grounds and fly to overwintering sites. The Eastern population overwinters in the volcanic mountains of eastern Michoacan in central Mexico. The Western breeders spend their winters along the California coast.

Monarch eggs and caterpillars have a lot of predators, which is why my neighbor Laura rescues all that she can. The photo below is from her butterfly tent. She currently has several eggs, about 40 eggs caterpillars in different larval stages, and a few in the chrysalis stage. Her sister participates in the monarch tagging (yes, they tag monarchs to follow them!) program and she has almost 500 caterpillars in her sanctuary!

The University of Maine Cooperative Extension has a photo-filled website on monarch butterflies. You can access it at http://umaine.edu/home-and-garden-ipm/photo-gallery/curiosities/monarchbutterfly-2/. If you are interested in conservation, migration, tagging, or any other aspect of the monarch butterfly, you will find information at the Monarch Watch website, http://monarchwatch.org.

Garden Envy

When asked for a "garden update" at a recent Master Gardener meeting, the notes show my response was, "Has come to conclusion garden will die - critters, wind, weather- needs cinderblocks 4 feet high. Thank God for supermarket!" That pretty much sums it up. My garden bounty so far amounts to a few greens salads, a small bowl of berries, and some onions.

So, not having anything of my own to show you, I've turned to Endless Mountains Edna's garden for inspiration...as well as for fresh veggies (she's very generous!).

Last year Edna and her husband built raised beds in the area they gardened in for the last 20 years. The results have been spectacular. Not only can she plant when the surrounding ground is mud, she has been harvesting since late April when she pulled the first radish from the ground! Her strawberries were luscious when everyone elses' were hard green bumps; her creasy greens have been a staple as my greens have been eaten away to nothing; her onions are tennis balls compared to my golfballs.

In case you want her recipe for success, her raised beds and her "vine beds" contain a mixture of our native clay, trucked-in topsoil, homemade compost, mushroom soil, local manure, and straw. She also lets her chickens into the area in the fall and winter. Instead of planting next year, I think I'll just ask Edna to be my CSA.

Master Gardeners are volunteers trained by Penn State Extension Horticulture Educators. Once they complete their training, they cooperate with service agencies and community groups on a wide range of gardening projects. Their talents and energies are directed toward providing a link between their community and Penn State Cooperative Extension and Outreach.